Traffic never tasted so good -- Carmelo's lures customers with discounted menus

Carmelo's Cucina Italiana on Memorial Drive sits right in the middle of roadwork near Dairy Ashford. The road project started in 2016, and all of the equipment and closures have made it hard for customers to access the restaurant.

To lure patrons in the midst of the delays, the restaurant is offering "traffic specials."

At lunchtime on weekdays, guests can enjoy a three course feast of Italian favorites for just $19.81, an ode to the year the restaurant opened. Dishes offered include pizette, Spaghetti Alla Carbonara, Meatball Parmigiana, tiramisu and New York Cheesecake, among others.

Special menus are also offered on weekday and Sunday evenings.

"These menus are really our way of giving back to our guests for dealing with the never-ending construction on Memorial along with our interior and exterior renovations," restaurant owner Ben Berg said.

We did reach out to the city of Houston about the roadwork causing trouble for business in the area. Crews ran into construction delays early in the project, but roadwork is scheduled to wrap up in late 2019.

The city is upgrading the lights, widening the sidewalks, adding bike lanes and upgrading the drainage. The configuration of the road will remain the same -- two lanes in each direction.